KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR – Get Rating) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,790,000 shares, a decline of 21.9% from the June 30th total of 6,130,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CFO Mark W. Sopp acquired 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $47.74 per share, with a total value of $50,127.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 118,497 shares in the company, valued at $5,657,046.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Mark W. Sopp purchased 1,050 shares of KBR stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $47.74 per share, with a total value of $50,127.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 118,497 shares in the company, valued at $5,657,046.78. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Sopp bought 1,100 shares of KBR stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.99 per share, with a total value of $50,589.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 117,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,401,387.53. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On KBR
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KBR by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,250,269 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $725,188,000 after acquiring an additional 39,673 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of KBR by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,994,026 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $333,055,000 after acquiring an additional 109,052 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of KBR by 5.8% in the first quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 4,696,565 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $257,043,000 after acquiring an additional 258,039 shares in the last quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P increased its position in shares of KBR by 1.6% in the first quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 2,432,587 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,135,000 after acquiring an additional 37,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of KBR by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,335,080 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $111,196,000 after acquiring an additional 22,212 shares in the last quarter.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have weighed in on KBR shares. TheStreet lowered shares of KBR from a “b+” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of KBR from $55.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of KBR from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $66.00 price target on shares of KBR in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KBR presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.
KBR Stock Performance
Shares of KBR opened at $53.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.11. KBR has a 1 year low of $36.71 and a 1 year high of $56.94.
KBR (NYSE:KBR – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The construction company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. KBR had a negative net margin of 1.32% and a positive return on equity of 23.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KBR will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.
KBR Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 14th. KBR’s dividend payout ratio is currently -64.00%.
About KBR
KBR, Inc provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. The company operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
